Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, many of which are known to cause cancer. Some of the chemicals found in cigarette smoke include:
- Carbon Monoxide (found in car exhaust)
- Arsenic (rat poison)
- Ammonia (found in window cleaner)
- Acetone (found in nail polish remover)
- Hydrogen Cyanide (gas chamber poison)
- Napthalene (found in mothballs)
- Sulphur Compounds (found in matches)
- Lead
- Volatile Alcohol
- Formaldehyde (used as embalming fluid)
- Butane (lighter fluid)
- 1,3-Butadiene
- 2-Napthylamine
- 2-Toluidine
When a cigarette is burned, it releases thousands more chemicals in tobacco smoke. Many of these chemicals are harmful to people who smoke and also to people who breathe in second-hand smoke. At least 70 of these chemicals cause cancer.
